The business plan, as a tool to lure potential investors, secure early customers, and guide the direction of your business, is a dying construct. Smart entrepreneurs realize that a prototype is worth a thousand business plans. This panel will focus on prototypes as a tool to accelerate the success of your business, and will have a particular emphasis on the role of prototyping in business modeling, fund raising, product development, and sales. We'll talk specifically about how prototyping can allow you to more efficiently allocate resources (both talent, time and money), discover customers’ unmet needs, outsmart the competition, and move potential investors from interested to infatuated.
Ade Olonoh is the co-Founder and CEO of Formspring, a rapidly growing service with over 20 million members that gives people a fun, new way to find out more about each other. Before founding Formspring, Ade founded and managed Formstack, a profitable startup based in Indianapolis. Ade ran two other startups, including Recursive Function, where he created several web-based apps, and Bottled Software, a custom software development consultancy. In between pursuing startups, he also served as a member of the IT management team at Gannett’s The Indianapolis Star. Ade has a B.A. in Computer Science & Mathematics from Anderson University. You can ask him anything here: http://www.formspring.me/ade
Some call me a tattooed metal-head with a mind for innovation, an eye for design and nose
for tomfoolery. Others call me VP of Product for SimpleGeo, where we build kick-ass tools for
developers to easily integrate location features into their apps. I call myself a tireless design
enthusiast, a lover of movies and food, a maker of things. You can just call me Jeffrey.
As a designer for Adaptive Path, Kendra has experience in research, planning, and design of both online and offline products and services. She has led diverse projects including the design of healthcare systems, retail environments, medical devices, durable goods, consumer electronics, and financial services; as well as more experimental "sensing" interactive environments for education and performance.
Active in the design community,
she sits on the Board of Directors for the Interaction Design Association (IxDA) as Treasurer; has been a guest lecturer for The Ohio State University’s Department of Design, and The Academy of Art University’s R3Lab on Sustainable Design.
Kristian Andersen works with entrepreneurs and business leaders to design compelling brand experiences, create new business models, and innovate new products and services. In addition to managing the daily operations at Kristian Andersen + Associates, he is an active angel investor and co-founder of Gravity Ventures, a seed-stage venture fund that makes investments in technology and technology-enabled businesses. Kristian has co-founded a number of software companies, including TinderBox and Pathagility, and serves on the board of several start-ups and non-profits. He can be followed at @KristianIndy.
